Consumer Reports At 7546:20

Copy the code below to embed the WBUR audio player on your site

75 years of Consumer Reports. We’ll talk to the editor-in-chief, and take your questions.

A shopper looks through his Consumer Reports magazine while shopping for a digital camera at Best Buy on Black Friday, Nov. 27, 2009, in South Portland , Maine. (AP)

Pop singer Madonna said it straight up. We are living in a material world, and she was a material girl. Despite crash and recession, the U.S. is still described as a consumer-led economy. For many, recession has meant paying even more attention to what they buy, how well it will work, how long it will last.

For 75 years, the bible of those careful shoppers has been Consumer Reports. They test and weigh and poke and prod the washing machines and dryers and smart phones and cars that keep us rolling.

Guests

C Segment: Cut Consumerism

Dave Gardner, producer, director, and writer of the film: “Growthbusters: Hooked on Growth.”

From Tom's Reading List

New York Times "BORN in 1936, Consumer Reports had a very happy 75th birthday this year. Its business has never been better. "

Bloomberg Businessweek "Two decades ago, when Consumer Reports started evaluating treadmills, it built a test machine it called the Johnny Walker. A drum-like steel cylinder studded with green rubber balls, the Johnny Walker spins above the rolling belts of its victims, pummeling them with blows meant to simulate the footsteps of a 170-lb. runner. In the early days, after a few hours of insistent pounding, some treadmills caught fire."